Client with an upscale 10 yr old house asks me to remove the carpet in the master bath and replace it with ceramic tile. Due to hubby’s resistance to change, it has to be done the week they are out of town so he won’t have to use the other bathroom for 2-3 days. Oh, and while you’re there, can you re-caulk the shower?
The large walk-in shower is made of a cultured marble (I love that oxymoron) base with same wall panels. So I start peeling off the old silicone caulk, and it comes off pretty easy. And the back side in kinda black and nasty, a little slimy in places. Then I find that one of the acrylic side pieces between the base and the window sill is loose (ok, so it’s not a window sill…but it’s what is under the large glass panel…so what is it called?) Pull it off and find a nasty glob of rotted moldy sheetrock. See the attached pics.
Looks like the installer decided he needed to shim the trim piece out a little farther from the framing, so he inserted a piece of sheetrock. Looking closely, I can see that they used a good rubber liner and turned it up the wall, but it didn’t get turned over the top of the framing…so that means it’s not going to stay in place…no problem, they ran sheetrock screws through the liner about 1-1/2 to 2 inches abouve the base. And they used more screws to secure the sheetrock scraps in place. Of course now all that’s left are the heads, and a sliver of body.
As I’m peeling off the old silicone, water starts leakiong out into the shower. And after all the crud is cleaned up, I can see water sloshing between the membrane and the underside of the acrylic base….so that means that the weep holes in the drain are plugged.
Oh, and it stinks. The smell is just wonderful. Now, are there any questions as to why you should use Durock or Hardie in wet areas?
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell’em “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Replies
Whoooie. Yuck. And Ouch.
And ain't it grand to have a digital camera so you can show it all to Mrs. HO when she gets back?? Helps explain why the bill's higher than she was expecting, LOL....
How are you gonna fix that, Ed? You obviously can't just close it back up and caulk it.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
How would you fix it? BTW, the re-caulk job was initiated because they will be selling the house in 6 months...does that change your answer?
The right way would be to take the whole thing apart and rebuild it. Since the entire enclosure is acrylic panels, with a little bit of luck and careful prying it could all be reused.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
What a mess..........high end, yeah right!
Plastic shower with gold anodized shower door trim.
Cut a piece of denshield, coat the cut with caulk, glue it in with caulk, get paid and get the heck out of there before you catch some disease or something.
No matter what you do, other than a complete rebuild, it is not the right thing, and it is not going to last. NO GUILT!! Patch it up and run.
I'm a bit curious about this acrylic base or whatever it is. Why would a liner be needed. I would think that the drain could be fixed to the base much like a tub or a regular shower base. I can tell what you have by the photos, but I have never seen one before.
When the new owners move in you know you have some work!
Eric
Your method is certainly one way of making repairs, but I sure wouldn't use Denshield...it's not much better than regular rock. A piece of 1/2" Hardie would work better.
The shower panels were made by a company that casts cultured marble vanity tops, sinks, tops with cast in place sinks, sheet material, bath tubs...whatever. It's all they do, and they are, I think, the only shop in town, and we're a town of 1 million. Anyway, they cast a shower base and sheets for the walls, and they are designed to be assembled inside a framed shower "room". This particular shower is quite large and an odd shape, so I guess that they could not cast it with an integral curb. It's about 4 ft x 7 ft with a neo-angle door.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Ed,
Cement board or Hardi would certainly work better.
I know that I came off real hit and run, wich is not typical of the work I do. I hate doing stuff like the repair that you are faced with because you are not left with many choices if the HO won't let you fix it the right way.
So the base of this thing is cast with a slope to the drain?? And it is not slippery??
Eric
ps In a shower I will often use Cement board for the first 36" and then use Denshield on up from there.
Most tubs I will use Denshield. It is MUCH better than SR. Dont let it's appearance fool you. Properly installed and in an installation that is not abused I don't see why it won't last 20 yrs.
It is just so much easier to handle and use.
Edited 6/23/2004 9:12 pm ET by firebird
Yes, the base is cast with a slight slope from all four sides to the drain. Can't attest to slipperyness as I have never been invited to use it, but the finish is not textured.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Same way I'd fix a leak in a concrete basement wall--fill the void with Polyplug (hydraulic very quick-set cement mix; http://www.bomix.ca); trowel it flat (real fast), add some thinset with a 'flashing' of Kerdi membrane stuck in it and stick the panel back in place. Caulk.
Open up the drain; clean the weeps or drill new ones with a short bit in a cable wand on a Dremel.
Invoice.
Goodnight....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
When you finish that one, I've got another ready for you as long as you are specializing in this sort of thing
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